Predacon Outcast

Chapter 4.

Elita carried me to where Optimus and 'Zeta' were, the 2 Autobots turned away from what they were doing to see Elita holding me. I hugged my plushie and smiled.

"Chromia found this little one roaming the corridors." Elita said.

The red bot set me down, patting my head. The big blue autobot looked down at me, he looked confused. I only looked up at him with my head tilted, still hugging my toy.

"It would seem she will need someone to keep her out of trouble." He said.

"I'm not trouble! I'm good!" I say.

"He means in a way that you will not get hurt." Optimus says.

Oh. Even if I get hurt, my new healing component will heal me. Nex said so, and I saw it with my own two optics. But I don't know if I should tell the Autobots yet.

"Okay." I said.

Optimus started looking at me up and down.

"Perhaps it would be best if you were to be cleaned, your armor is in need of it."

I look down at my armor, and he's right. My armor is all icky and a little scratched from the rust storm, and some dried liquids from Nex's old tests on me. I haven't been cleaned in a long time. I wanna be clean, I don't like being all yucky. My toy could use a cleaning too.

"Yay clean!" I squealed.

Optimus chuckled and looked at the door, seeing the silver Autobot Shuriken walking by.

"Shuriken." He said.

Shuriken stopped walking and looked toward us.

"Yes?" He says.

"Could you possibly give Springlock a thorough cleansing?" Optimus asks him.

Shuriken put his servos at his sides and bowed.

"Sensei."

"What's a sensei?" I ask.

Shuriken only chuckled and approached me, holding out his servo. I put my hand in his and he took me out of the room, walking down the 'corridor' as Elita called it. Many Autobots were around now, some stopped and stared at Shuriken and me as we walked by. I wonder where we are going. Where do I get clean? How far away is it? Can I fly there?

Just then, I saw 4 really REALLY big bots walking towards us. They were bigger than Optimus and Zeta together! My ears drooped and my eyes really wide as I just kept looking at them, the biggest one of them was about to walk past when he noticed Shuriken and me. The 4 big bots stopped walking and looked down at us.

"What is THAT?" The biggest one said.

I didn't say anything as I was only smiling and looking up at him. Shuriken chuckled weirdly and picked me up, I kept my attention on the big one.

"She's our new guest, Grimlock. Her name is Springlock." He said.

'Grimlock' looked right at me.

"That thing isn't related to me, is it?" He asks.

"Very unlikely. Come Springlock, it is time for you to be cleaned."

Shuriken carried me away from Grimlock and the other big bots.

*   *   *   *

The silver Autobot brought me into a big room with a big tub filled with oil, he set me down and went to close the door behind us. My tummy started growling, I was hungry. I whined and held my tummy, looking at him with a sad face. Shuriken tapped his chin with a finger and went "hmm".

"Are you hungry, little one?" He asks.

I nod.

"Would you like some energon?"

My ears perk and I gasp.

"Yesyesyesyesyes!!"

"Easy Springlock, I'll go get you some from the storage room."

"Yay!! I like crystals!"

He looked surprised, but then sighed and shook his head with a smile. He stands up and walks toward the door.

"Just stay here until I get back, okay?"

I nod, Shuriken nods to me and closes the door behind him. I started looking around the room, I saw a part of the room was cut off into a square with a weird pipe coming out the top of it. I looked towards the big tub of oil, tilting my head and putting my plushie down. I climbed up onto the edge of the tub and sat on my knees on the edge, looking down at the oil. I put my hand into the tub of oil, and I was surprised.

It was warm, it felt really good. I pulled my hand out and saw oil dripping from it and back into the tub. I touched the oil gently, it moved slowly when I touched it. Oooh, I like this. I hit the oil, this time a little harder. The oil splashed me a bit in the face, I giggled. I started splashing more and more, making oil go all over me and the wall. This is fun! The warm oil felt so nice against my armor, and I was having fun too. So much fun I didn't hear the door open.

"Springlock??"

"Huh?"

I turned to see who it was, but my hand slipped. I yelped and fell face first into the tub of oil, splashing it all over the wall. Once I came above the oil, I spit out what had gotten in my mouth. Looking towards who it was, I saw Shuriken standing there. He looked like he was trying not to laugh, holding a box in one hand and a weird thing in the other. He set them on a counter.

"You scared me!" I said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. But at least you got in by yourself, you're halfway done."

"I am?"

I tried crawling out, but I kept slipping back into the oil. Shuriken started laughing hysterically at me, I was getting mad at both him for laughing and me for not being able to get out of the oil. I growled and yelled, a puff of blue fire shooting out of my mouth. The silver Autobot jumped back and looked shocked.

"Whoa!! You can breathe fire?!" He yelped.

I smiled, "Uh Huh!"

He stared at me. I used my claws to cling onto the side of the tub, trying to pull myself out one more time. This time I did it! I got out of the tub covered in oil, it dripped off of me and onto the floor. Just then I smelled energon, my nose was twitching with each sniff. It was coming from the box. Energon! I smiled and ran towards the box, but Shuriken grabbed me and pulled me back.

"Whoa there, not yet." He said.

"Huh..?" I ask sadly.

"Don't worry, you can eat after you're polished. It won't take long."

"Mhh...okay."

Shuriken sat me on the counter next to the box of Energon. I was sneaky and started reaching for it, but he saw me and took the box and set it down on the floor. I pouted and crossed my arms, unhappy. The silver Autobot picked up the other thing he had with him and pushed a button on it, the thing started to buzz. My ears perked and I tilted my head, staring at it. I've seen one of them before, but can't remember what it was called. He took my arm and put the fluffy end of the thing against me, I started purring loudly.

It felt nice, like being pet almost. When Shuriken moved the thing off my arm, the spot where it was buzzing was now super duper shiny. I gasped and looked at Shuriken, he only smiled and kept 'polishing' me. I kept purring as he was polishing my tummy and chest, I was laying on my back on the counter and loving every minute of it. Shuriken was smiling the whole time, up until I was fully polished. He turned the 'polisher' off and sat me up.

"There, all done. And now..."

The silver Autobot picked up the box of energon crystals and sat them onto the counter, opening it. I saw it was almost full and snatched the box, digging my shiny hands into the crystals and pulling out the biggest ones I could find. I started taking big bites out of the crystals, munching on them with a big smile on my face. Shurikens optics were wide as I was eating the crystals, but I didn't even care.

I'll just keep munching on these crystals.